Lubricating apparatus



June 25, 1940. E; w DAVls v 2,205,759

LUBRICATING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 27, 1937 Patented .lune 25, 1940 UNITED STATES LUBRICATING APPARATUS' Ernest W. Davis, Oak Park, Ill.,

assignor to Stewart-Warner Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a

corporation of Virginia Application Augusta?, 1937, serian No. 161,180

, Claims.

My invention relates to lubricating apparatus, and more particularly to an improved high pressure lubricating system by means of which 1ubricating operations may be performed with 5 greater facility and rapidity than heretofore.

ln the past, hand operated lubricating systems employed a hand operated lubricant compressor mounted on a portable or semi-portable lubricant reservoir, and the compressor was successively connected to the lubricant receiving fittings on the parts to be lubricated by means of a coupler at the end of the discharge hose of the compressor. The flow of lubricantfrom the compressor to the fitting was controlled by a mann ually` opened and spring or lubricant pressure closed valve. Flow of lubricant took place only While the valve was manually held open. Generally speaking, it is essential that the control valve be located near the discharge end of the discharge hose, (which is usually a fiexible conduit), to prevent thelubricant in the conduit Ifrom flowing or oozing from the coupler after the latter is disconnected from the fitting. Thlsis necessary due to the entrainment of small amounts of air in the lubricant and due to the fact that lthe flexible conduit itself is slightly expansible. if i the compressor is supplying a part offering appreciable resistance to the inflow of lubricant, and the coupler disconnected, without closing a` valve adjacent the coupler, the air mixed with the lubricant would expandpand the conduit itself contract, and thus lubricant would be forced from the open end of the disconnected coupling. In these prior lubricating systems, it was therefore customary to provide a valvevvhich was held open with one hand While the operator actuated the compressor with the other hand. In many instances, due to the location of the fitting at a relatively inaccessible point, it Was uw difficult or impossible for the operator simultaneously to'perform both of these operations, and it vvas` therefore frequently necessary to employ a helper to actuate the compressor While the operator successively attached the coupler to the lubricant receiving fittings and operated the control valve. Furthermore, `in the lubrication `of a machine by means of the hand operated high pressure lubricating systems heretofore used, it Was nec-- U essary for the operator to hold the control valve open for extended periods of time While the lubricant was being supplied to the parts `to be lubricated. This was a tiring operation. During the operation of connecting the coupler to a tting .and disconnecting it therefrom?, it was nec- (ci. azi- 471) C essary for the operator frequently to exert considerable force upon the control valve, and in doing so, the lever or trigger for opening the valve was often inadvertently operated, resulting in undesired discharge of lubricant from the 5 coupler. Similarly, in moving the control valve! about during a lubricating operation, the valve operating lever or trigger Was frequently inadvertently operated by coming in contact with parts of the machine. Thus during the intervals when it was essential that the operator maintain a firm grip upon the control valve, it Was necessary for him to be careful not to grip the valve tight enough to cause the valve to open. Consequently, Vthe operator resorted to the eX- pedient of changing grips, or of using a heavy compression Aspring to prevent inadvertent depressing of the manual control. With the changing of grips, time Was Wasted and the coupler Was dropped frequently .With resulting breakage of parts, and when a heavy spring Was being used, the operation became more fatiguing.

One of the prime requisites of any high pressure lubricating system is that it be easily and speedily operated. As above pointed out, the systems heretofore employed .did not fully meet this requirement, and in addition resulted in the excessive fatigue `of the operator and unnecessary Waste of lubricant. l

It is therefore one of the objects of my invention to provide an improved high pressure lubricating system by which lubricant may be conveniently and rapidly supplied to a plurality of bearings without Wasting lubricant or excessivelytiring the operator.

Anotherobject of the invention is to provide a lubricating system which an operator who is not familiar with its structural characteristics- \vill naturally operate in the correct manner .A without instruction. 40

Anotherl object of the invention is to provide an improved lubricating system and control therefor which is adapted to the manual forces naturally employed in the steps and operations involved in the `.lubrication of a machine.

`(in order to prevent inadvertent operation of the `control device), is substantially eliminated.

Another object of the invention is to provide constructions affording an improved method of operating and controlling a high pressure lubricating system.

Another object of the invention is to provide a lubricating system which is simple in construction and operation, thoroughly effective in its use, and inexpensive to manufacture and maintain.

These being among the objects of the invention, other and further objects will become apparent from the drawing herein, the description relating thereto, and the appended claims.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a preferred embodiment illustrating the invention; and

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of a portion of said system shown in Fig. 1,

Referring now to the drawing in further detail, the embodiment of the invention illustrated will be better understood when it is recognized that .y

it is desirable for an operator to devote his attention alternately between a lubricant compressor and a manually controlled means for making a connection with and supplying lubricant to a tting. The connectionshould be capable of being maintained in a way not only permitting the proper flow of lubricant to the fittings, but also freeing the hands of the operator so that he may operate the pump to create the desired flow of lubricant.

Not only this, but with the ow controlled by a valve, the natural tendency of an operator is to grip the handle of a valve control device tightly while it is being manipulated. Corollary to this, the natural tendency is to release the grip when proper engagement has been accomplished. The invention capitalizes upon these'natural tendencies.

Referring to Fig." 2, the valve used to control the flow of lubricant from the lubricant compressor to the lubricant receiving tting comprises a pipe handle I2, which may be swiveled to a discharge hose I4, and a valve I6, which is operated by means of a handle IU, and thus controls the flow of lubricant to a coupler designated generally I8, which may be coupled to a lubricant receiving fitting 20. It will be understood that a plurality of lubricant receiving fittings 2U are secured respectively to the various parts of the machine requiring lubrication and that the coupler I8 is successively connected to these fittings during the lubricating operation.

The coupler I8 comprises a body 22 having a slot 24 therein for receiving the head 21 of the fitting, and a narrower open end slot 26 for en gaging around the neck 28 ofthe tting. The 'body 22 is provided with a bore 30 terminating at one end in a beveled shoulder 32'and threaded at its opposite endas indicated at 34 to receive a plug 46, the head 42 of which seals against a gasket 44. A helical coil spring 38 is compressed between the plug 46 and an apertured slidable sealing member 36, the lower end of which is beveled complementally to the shoulder 32 and is adapted to be pressed against the top face of the tting 2E) to make a lubricant-tight sealed connection therewith. During the operation of supplying lubricant to the fitting, the force of the spring 3B is supplemented by the pressure of the lubricant acting upon the upper surface of the sealing member 36 to force the latter into rm engagement with the head 21 .of the fitting. Lubricant is supplied to the bore 30 through a passageway 46 drilled in the body 22 which communicates with a threaded bore 48,*to which a connecting nipple 50 is screwed,` the other end of 'thenipple being threaded into the Valve body 52.

The valve body is provided with connecting passageways 54 and 6D, a valve seat 56 being located between these passageways for cooperation with the spherical head 62 carried by a valve stem 64.

The valve 62, in cooperation with its seat 56, iis

handle I0 is pivoted upon a pin l0 which extends through the valve body 52 and has a shoulder l2 adapted to abut against the valve body 52 6 to limit movement of the handle I0 in a direction away from the complementary pipe handle I2. The valve handle I0 is provided with an adjusting screw I6 held in adjusted position by a lock nut 18 and having its at end engaging with the outer extremity of the valve stem 64.

The high pressure lubricant compressor may be of any suitable construction, and is illustrated in Fig. l as comprising a lubricant container or reservoir 86 having a pump 32 secured thereto, the pump being manually operated by means of a handle 86. The outlet of the compressor or pump 66 is connected to the conduit I4, which may, if desired, be provided with a detachable coupling connection 84. The lubricant reservoir 86 is provided with a tting 88 which may be identical with the fitting 26, preferably with its a lubricant receiving iitting and then operate the handle 66 until suicient lubricant has been supplied to the part to which the tting 26 is connected. Then, as an incident to disconnecting the coupler 22 from the tting 26, he will grasp the handles I6 and I2, and in so doing will substantially automatically force the valve 62 tightly against its seat 56, thus cutting oi the supply of lubricant to the coupler and preventing the re- Vsidual pressure in the conduit I4 from causing lubricant to leak from the coupler. The operator will maintain his grip upon the handles I0 and I2 while disconnecting the coupler 22 from one fitting and attaching` it to the next tting to be supplied with lubricant. The space I4 between the handles I0 and I2 is just sulcient to permit seating of the valve 62 against its seat 56 without causing the end or" the handle I0 to abut against the handle I2. The handles I0 and I2 are thus normally close together, while the control valve is being grasped by the operator, and the handles III and I2 thus together form a convenient grip for applying force to the coupler 22 to disconnect it from one fitting and connect it to the neXt. The lubrication of the machine thus proceeds by successive connection ofthe coupler 22 to the fittings 20, the operator actuating the lubricant compressor by means of a handle 26 for each lubricating operation. During the lubricating operation, the operator may, if the tting 20 is relatively remote from the compressor, attach the coupler 22 to the tting and then walk over to the compressor and operate it, since the lubricant pressure acting upon the valve 62 will easily force it to open position and permit flow oflubricant to `the part to be lubricated.

After all of the bearings upon a machine have been lubricated, :the'operator will grasp the handles I0 and I2 in a firm grip, thus 'closing the Valve 62, 'disconnect the couplerv 22 from the lubricant receiving iitting, and connect it to the dummy fitting 88, whereupon any residual pressure in the discharge hose lli will cause discharge of lubricant into the reservoir 3i? as soon as the operator relieves his grip upon the handles lil and l2.

It will be noted that the relationship of the handles lll and l2 is such that the valve 62 is closed whenever the handles are gripped in a normal natural manner. Thus an operator not familiar with theV construction oi the co-ntrol valve will naturally operate it correctly without Waste of lubricant. The operation of successively connecting the coupler 22 to the various fittings attached to the parts to be lubricated is fascilitated because the operator retains the same grip upon the control valve in disconnecting the coupler, in shifting it to the next iitting, and in connecting it to the latte-r. The nipple 50 is rigid so that the operator, while gripping the handles lli and I2, may exert whatever force may be necessary to detach the coupler 22 from one iitting and attach it to the next.

` tions may be made in the construction disclosed without departing from the basic features of my invention. therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise construction disclosed, but Wish to include within the scope of my invention all such modifications and variations which will readily suggest themselves.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

l. A lubricating system having manually operated pump with a lubricant discharge outlet and a conduit connected with said outlet, a coupling connected with said conduit, said coupling being adapted for successive connection with a plurality of fittings, and a normally open manually closed valve intermediate said pump and said coupling.

2. A lubricating system adapted for use with a plurality of iittings secured to a device to be lubricated, said system comprising a manually operated pump having a reservoir and a discharge outlet, a conduit connected with said outlet, a coupling connected with said conduit, said coupling being adapted for successive connection with said fittings, a normally open` manually closed valve intermediate said outlet an said coupling, and a iitting on said pump discharging into the reservoir thereof, said tting having the same dimensional construction as the fitting secured to the device to be lubricated.

3. A lubricating system adapted for use with a plurality of fittings secured to a device to be lubricated, said system comprising a manually operated pump having a lubricant reservoir and a discharge outlet, a conduit connected with said outlet, a coupling connected with said conduit, said coupling being adapted for successive connection with said fittings, a manually operated valve intermediate said outlet and said coupling, and a fitting on said pump, said fitting being of the same dimentional construction as said ttings secured to said device to be lubricated, and said ttings being arranged to discharge lubricant into said reservoir.

4. A lubricating system having a portable lubricant reservoir and a manually operated pump connected therewith, a conduit connected to the discharge outlet of the pump, a self-opening manually closed valve assembly connected to the end of said conduit for controlling the flow of lubricant therefrom, a coupler for making a lubricanttight connection with a lubricant receiving tting, and a relatively rigid conduit connecting said coupler to said valve assembly, whereby said coupler may be manipulated to connect it with a tting and disconnect it therefrom by using said valve assembly as a handle.

5. A lubricant liow control comprising a nozzle member having a handle, a valve casing rigid therewith, a valve closing against the ow of lubricant, and an exposed movable member for closing said valve, said movable member being so constructed and arranged with respect to said handle as to be moved to valve-closing position incidental to a normal grasp of said handle.

ERNEST W. DAVIS. 

